The Last Bastion of Secularism? Government Religion Policy in Western Democracies, 1990 to 2008

Despite the decline in popularity of secularization theory—which predicts that religion's influence will decline in modern times—many argue that this prediction still applies to western democracies. This study tests this proposition with respect to government religion policy using eighty-one variables from the Religion and State Round 2 dataset covering the 1990 to 2008 period for twenty-seven western democracies. The results show that religious discrimination—limitations on the religious institutions and practices of minority religions—has increased significantly across a wide range of countries and types of religious discrimination. Religious legislation is present in all twenty-seven countries and levels of religious legislation remain stable. These findings are inconsistent with the predictions of secularization theory.